


it's (black) friday, i'm in love

by kyluxtrashcompactor



Series: the holidays sucked until you [2]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Black Friday, M/M, Mentions of Christmas, Thanksgiving, brief mention of switching, even more mentions of zombies, extremely dubious sanity at a place of work, inappropriate use of a dressing room, less than stellar customer service, semi-public sexual encounters, this fic is as close to a shopping mall as KTC will ever get on Black Friday
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-21
Updated: 2018-11-24
Packaged: 2019-08-27 08:29:46
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16698964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kyluxtrashcompactor/pseuds/kyluxtrashcompactor
Summary: They'd worked across from one another for four years, Kylo nursing a crush on Hux while Hux remained oblivious to it all. The truth is out now, though, and just in time for what has always been Hux's least favorite part of the year—he can't remember when he last enjoyed a holiday.Kylo, however, is determined to change his mind. And maybe he will.





	1. thanksgiving day

**Author's Note:**

> This is a continuation of a little holiday collaboration with the lovely [Starkickback!](http://starkickback.tumblr.com/) It will include some artwork with both chapters! 
> 
> Title is taken from [Friday, I'm In Love, by The Cure.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvzlEfBYKVw)

It’s the same every year, no matter how much Kylo wishes it would be different.

Well, maybe that’s not _entirely_ true. At least every holiday get-together with his family brings with it a different kind of interpersonal conflict. Last year, it was getting into an argument with Han while trying to help his father tinker on the old Pontiac in the garage. In retrospect, Han most likely hadn’t been trying to sound critical when he’d said ‘ _it sure would have been nice if you’d been interested in learning anything about mechanics when you were growing up,’_ but it had sure felt like that at the time. Like his father was disappointed in the fact that Kylo had been more into playing hockey and Dungeons and Dragons and video games than taking apart an engine. Han had probably just wished he could have passed on a trade to his son, which wasn’t really an unusual concept.

This year, Kylo’s uncle Luke had decided the dinner table was the right place to corner Kylo into a conversation about his plans after graduation. Kylo had been honest and said his dream was to keep playing hockey. Then Luke had told him that was a waste of an expensive education. Leia had tried valiantly to change the subject, but it was already out there, and Kylo was forced to defend himself while his uncle tried to make him ‘see reason.’ It seemed that Luke was the principal authority on the matter.

So Kylo hadn’t finished his dinner, and it was only with a heartfelt plea from his mother that Kylo had let her at least pack him up some things to take home when he refused to stay. Even then, he’d almost walked out without it when Luke appeared in the kitchen doorway and told Leia she was encouraging her son to act like a child by storming off when adults were talking to him. Leia had reminded Luke that Kylo _was_ an adult, and then told her brother to shut up and leave the kitchen. Mollified, Kylo had accepted a hug and the entire pumpkin pie (his favorite) that Leia had baked for dessert. He knew Luke loved it, too, and it was satisfying to walk out the door with all of it.

The feeling had mostly worn off by the time Kylo had driven back to his dorm. He’d sat in his truck outside for half an hour feeling sorry for himself and missing Hux, who had gone to his own family thing.

And then Hux had texted him, saying he’d left his parents’ house early, too, and told Kylo he should come over _‘so we can drink wine and have sex.’_

It was hard to argue with that.

Kylo drove to Hux’s apartment feeling the first twinge of Thanksgiving gratitude he’d had all day, and when he reached Hux’s door with the cardboard box full of leftovers in his arms, his sour mood had mostly given way to butterflies in his belly—they hadn’t gone away after he and Hux had finally hooked up. It all still felt new and unreal and so incredibly intoxicating.

Arms full, Kylo knocked on the door with the toe of his boot. The deadbolt clicked a few seconds later and the door opened and Hux was there, looking ruffled and pissed off and cute as hell.

“What’s that?” he asked as Kylo came inside.

Kylo crossed to the table to set the box down, smiling to himself at the way Hux sounded suspicious, like Kylo was bringing in a box full of tarantulas to set loose in the apartment.

“It’s stuff from the Thanksgiving dinner I didn’t feel like eating,” Kylo told him.

The door clicked shut and locked, and Kylo was just starting to take the pumpkin pie out of the box to put into the refrigerator when he felt Hux’s hand on his hip. Kylo left the pie and turned around, breath hitching when Hux’s mouth was on his immediately.

Hux was soft against him, wearing pajama pants and one of Kylo’s t-shirts that always seemed to find its way into Hux’s dresser drawer. Kylo wrapped his arms around Hux’s slender body and pulled him close, and after a long, hard press of his lips against Kylo’s, Hux broke the kiss and hid his face in the crook of Kylo’s shoulder.

“I hate holidays,” he grumbled, voice muffled.

Kylo nuzzled Hux’s hair, which wasn’t its usual artful, soft tousle. There was prickly pomade binding it mostly to his skull and it smelled like chemicals.

“I only like the ones where you aren’t expected to have a family thing,” Kylo said.

Hux drew back slowly so he could see Kylo’s face, but he only swayed back far enough for that, with Kylo’s hands still on his hips.

“Every year I think maybe it will different,” Hux said. “Maybe now that I’m about to graduate with a PhD in a respectable field my father will manage some respect for me.” He averted his eyes, like he was ashamed of that. “But no.”

Kylo felt a pang of sympathy and hurt for Hux. He knew what it was like to feel as though no matter what you did, you can’t please the people whose opinions always seem to matter too much. It was children seemed to be stamped with a need for approval from their parents even if their parents were shitty.

Kylo dipped his head and kissed Hux’s temple. “If he’s not proud of you, then he’s blind. Because you’re perfect.”

Hux looked at him again and his clouded eyes focused and brightened. He quirked an eyebrow. “You know you don’t have to butter me up to get me in bed, right? I’m a sure thing.”

Kylo laughed, knowing Hux was purposefully changing the subject and going with it. He put his hands on Hux’s hips and tugged him closer until they were flush against one another, then he slid one around to cup Hux’s ass, squeezing gently. It was soft and pliable and felt good in his palm. Kylo maneuvered his other hand beneath the hem of Hux’s t-shirt and ran it up his narrow torso to pinch one nipple between thumb and middle finger. Hux flinched, breath hitching and then expelled in a low groan, and Kylo saw his green eyes go dark and heavy-lidded, the response instant and telling—Hux wanted to be distracted, and this was how.

Leaning in, Kylo brushed a quick kiss against Hux’s lips before moving to his jaw, peppering kisses along the line of it, toward his ear. Hux purred low in his throat, tilting his head back and to the side, exposing his neck. Kylo kissed the hollow where his pulse-point lay, rubbing the pad of his thumb over Hux’s now-peaked nipple. Kylo’s fingers were slightly calloused from sports, and Hux loved the way they felt there—it always made him shiver, and he did now.

Hux’s fingers were on Kylo’s belt then, drawing the worn leather slowly out of the buckle. Kylo took the unhurried pace as a hint that Hux wanted the kind of languid, thorough fuck he liked after a particularly taxing day at school, and the realization made Kylo’s cock start to fill rapidly. Kylo loved taking his time with Hux’s body, making up for the four years he’d wanted him and couldn’t have him.

“Bedroom,” Kylo whispered in Hux’s ear just as Hux thumbed the button of his jeans open.

Hux craned his head up and closed his teeth on Kylo’s earlobe. “Make me.”

Kylo grunted and wrapped both arms around Hux, palms gripping him tightly at the seam of his thighs and ass, then picked him up like he weighed nothing. Hux made a keening noise that was arousal and approval both as he looped his arms around Kylo’s neck and crossed his ankles behind his back tightly. As Kylo turned and walked toward the bedroom, he could feel Hux’s rock-hard cock brushing his belly with every step. The first time Kylo had picked Hux up like this, he’d thought that alone nearly brought Hux off, leaving him flushed and leaking and exposing a very potent thrill at being manhandled.

Kylo nudged Hux’s bedroom door open with his foot, carrying Hux to the bed and sinking to his knees on the edge of it. He let their balance tilt them toward the mattress until Hux unwound himself from around Kylo to lay spread before him. Kylo dropped his feet back to the floor and grasped Hux’s pajama pants, tugging them down and off and tossing them aside. Hux lay there, Kylo’s t-shirt rucked up over his belly while Kylo crossed to the nightstand and grabbed the bottle of lube.

He didn’t have to ask to know Hux wanted to bottom. It’s always how he wanted it when he was in this mood. Only when he was in a particularly feisty and dark-humored frame of mind did he like to be behind Kylo, driving into him hard and fast and leaving Kylo an absolute, debauched mess. It didn’t matter either way, to Kylo, and their moods always seemed to match, like they fed off each other’s energy and molded one another into something perfectly compatible in the moment.

Kylo stripped as he moved back to the end of the bed, toeing his boots off and dropping his jeans to the floor. He wasn’t wearing underwear, which was another thing that turned Hux on, especially after he’d found out that it was a thing with Kylo and that he didn’t wear it at work either.

Sinking to his knees on the floor at the foot of the bed, Kylo grabbed Hux’s ankles and jerked him forward until his ass was flush with the edge of the mattress. Hux made a sound half whine, half surprised huff, all breaking off into a groan as Kylo spread Hux’s cheeks and rubbed his hole with his thumb.

Hux loved it when Kylo took his time with this part in particular, with opening him up on his thick fingers. Kylo loved it, too—loved watching Hux’s pink hole get glistening-slick and stretched and ready to take his cock.

Hux was a writhing mess by the time Kylo had three fingers inside him, his hips making shallow, reflexive little jerks down as he tried to get Kylo deeper. He finally made a low-pitched, impatient sound and nudged Kylo with his heel, a sure hint that he was ready _now_ and needed it _now._

Licking his lips and moving one hand between his own legs to tug his cock, Kylo withdrew his fingers from Hux and bent down to lick a stripe across his hole, pressing his tongue in just enough to feel how relaxed and loose Hux was. It made Hux yelp and nudge him harder with his heel.

“Impatient,” Kylo growled, biting the inside of Hux’s thigh, earning a muffled laugh from Hux. When Kylo glanced up at him, Hux had his arm thrown over his eyes and his chest was rising and falling rapidly. Kylo knew he must have brought him closer to climax than he’d intended to.

Standing, Kylo patted Hux’s knee. “Back,” he said, and Hux obediently scrambled back to the center of the bed.

Kylo crawled over him, hiking Hux’s thigh up toward his chest and lining his cock up. He pushed inside with one, long stroke and Hux arched up off the bed with a loud moan.

Kylo had to bury his face against Hux’s neck for a moment while he waited for his body to stop shaking with the need to fuck him hard and fast, because he knew it would be over too quickly for them both. Hux was moving beneath him in seconds, though, pushing his hips up and clinging to Kylo with his legs.

Finally, they started moving together. Kylo went as slowly as he could manage, pulling all the way back to the tip before sliding back in hard, getting deep inside and punching a delicious, needy moan from Hux every time. _God_ , Kylo loved fucking him. And they did it constantly. Every time Kylo spent the night—and it was more days out of the week than not—they went at least twice, and quite often more than that, and it was never enough.

Kylo was flushed and his thighs were quivering with the strain of moving slowly and he was way too close to coming when Hux went stiff and squirmed back, trying to pull of Kylo’s cock.

“On your back,” he croaked, voice hoarse with lust.

Kylo’s cock twitched inside him and he bit his lip, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to will away the climax that Hux’s command almost brought him to. Then carefully, forcing his mind to a brief blankness, Kylo pulled out. Hux hissed beneath him as Kylo fell to his back beside him. Then it was only seconds before Hux was straddling his hips and sinking down on him again.

Now it was Kylo’s turn to let the air from his lungs in a moan that the neighbors could probably hear through the wall. If not that, then definitely the way the left side of Hux’s not-quite-secure headboard started to slap against it as Hux rode him.

This was both of their favorite way to get off in the end—Hux getting to set the pace and get Kylo deep, and Kylo getting to watch Hux bounce in his lap while his pretty cock bobbed with his near-desperate pace.

Kylo closed his hands on Hux’s hips and Hux’s went around Kylo’s thighs as he leaned back, working himself down hard and fast until Kylo saw the tell-tale way Hux’s flush started to spread across his lower belly. Hux didn’t even have to say anything for Kylo to know to wrap his hand around his cock and start pumping it, and three strokes had Hux coming with a keening cry of ecstatic relief. He spilled sticky and hot over Kylo’s palm, his hole tensing and contracting around Kylo’s cock as he rode out his orgasm. His pace only stuttered a bit, his glazed eyes fixed on Kylo’s, mouth open and lips shiny.

“Come on, baby,” Hux rasped. “Come in me.”

The muscles in Kylo’s stomach seized as his orgasm ripped through him, and he made the same sound Hux had as his cock pulsed inside him. He felt Hux quivering and heard him groan again as another, weaker spurt of come rolled over Kylo’s fingers where he still had Hux’s cock in his fist. It was another, smaller orgasm, and Kylo’s whole body shook as Hux collapsed onto his chest.

They both lay there panting, glued to each other with a sheen of sweat and the cooling spend on Kylo’s belly. It felt like long minutes before Kylo drifted back to Earth, settling back into his body with a heavy-limbed torpor and a strong suspicion he wasn’t going to get out of this bed without a long nap.

Like he’d had the same thought, Hux stirred and slid off him, nestling up against Kylo’s side, yawning. “Thanks,” he said around it.

Kylo vibrated with laughter as he scrubbed his belly off with the corner of Hux’s sheet. “It’s not like I was being selfless, there,” he said.

“Mmm,” Hux hummed, wrapping his arm around Kylo’s waist and yawning again. He stayed that way for a minute and then twisted around to lay on his other side.

It was another cue Kylo had learned to recognize over the past few weeks, and he happily rolled over and gathered Hux close, fitting his knees in behind Hux’s and nuzzling the back of his neck. Hux reached down and grabbed the duvet and tugged it up over them.

“Holidays sucked until you,” Hux murmured, the words almost unintelligible as he yawned again.

It took Kylo a moment to be sure he’d heard Hux right—it seemed like the sort of thing Hux would have called _sappy_. But Hux was warm and sleepy and soft and maybe this was the best time for stuff like that.

Kylo opened his mouth to say it. To tell Hux he loved him. His lungs filled with air and the words were on his lips, but then a little spike of anxiety lodged in his chest and said _not yet_ , _you’ll scare him off._

He let himself say it silently, though, lips moving against Hux’s neck, punctuated with a kiss.

 

They slept for about two hours, then spent forty-five minutes in the shower together—only about half of which was devoted to getting clean.

Kylo felt wonderfully lazy and light-hearted by the time he padded out into Hux’s kitchen in a pair of his own pajama pants that had been in Hux’s laundry basket. When he’d pulled them out (clean, courtesy of Hux), it had occurred to him suddenly how many things he had at Hux’s apartment. There was more than one t-shirt, a toothbrush, a bottle of his leave-in conditioner, his Darth Vader travel mug, a paperback book on the nightstand. None of it had accumulated on purpose, or to make a statement. Kylo was just always here, and he was pretty sure Hux wanted it that way.

It was a good feeling.

“Hey, babe?” Kylo called over his shoulder as he looked through a drawer. “Do you have a pie server?”

“Yeah,” Hux called from the bedroom. “You.”

Kylo grinned, shutting the drawer full of mismatched cooking implements and taking a butter knife out of the neighboring drawer instead. He peeled the saran-wrap off the pumpkin pie and cut two, huge slices, which he levered onto plates. The rest of the leftovers Leia had sent with him were on the counter while the oven heated up, but Kylo had told Hux they should start with dessert, and Hux hadn't argued.

He was carrying the plates to the couch when Hux came out of the bedroom, bundled in a long, fuzzy robe. His hair was still damp and his skin pink from the shower.

“You’re going to have to get a Christmas tree tomorrow,” Kylo told him.

“It’s Black Friday,” Hux intoned darkly, settling onto the couch beside him and pulling his feet up. He tugged the robe over his toes and leaned into Kylo’s side, taking the plate he was offered. “I’m going to be stuck at work all day.”

“It'll be morning when we get off,” Kylo told him. “We can go then.”

Hux looked at him, fork poised halfway to his mouth. “We? I thought you were off tomorrow.”

Kylo smiled, forking pie into his mouth. “I picked up,” he said once he’d swallowed.

Hux was staring at him, both brows raised incredulously. “You _picked up_. On the worst day in the entirety of retail. Why?”

“So you don’t have to suffer alone?”

Hux wrinkled his nose and for a moment, Kylo thought he was going to chide him for being ridiculous, but then he just smiled. Hux looked away, like he was feeling something he didn’t want Kylo to be able to read in his eyes.

“You know I don’t believe in Christmas, right?” he asked, licking pie off his fork.

Kylo laughed. “That sounds like a challenge.”

Hux’s lips curled up again and he glanced back to Kylo. “I’ve never had a Christmas tree,” he admitted. “My dad said they were a waste of electricity.”

Kylo’s mouth hung open, his chest going tight. “That’s fucked up.”

Hux shrugged one shoulder. He seemed to think for a moment, then said, “If we survive tomorrow, I’ll let you buy me one. But you’re dragging it up here and setting it up.”

Kylo grinned, leaning over and kissing Hux’s lips. He tasted like pumpkin spice, which was completely perfect.

“Deal,” Kylo said. He sank back against the couch cushion and leaned into Hux while he sliced another piece of his pie with the side of his fork. “I agree, you know,” he added.

“Agree with what?”

“The holidays sucked until you.”


	2. black friday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to change a little detail about what time the guys are going in to work on Black Friday. also i was feeling self-conscious about my smut writing so I took a few of the tags out and just left it out of this chapter. sorry for any sense of false advertising.

Hux was feeling bleary-eyed and thoroughly uninspired by the time Kylo pulled into the parking lot of the mall. He’d somehow managed to walk out of his apartment still holding his ceramic mug of coffee, which was down to the gritty dregs and ice cold.

Traffic had been utter shit this morning, although _morning_ didn’t really feel like the correct descriptor for this murky half-darkness. Watching red tail lights flash and fade on the interstate had left Hux in a sort of trance, and the heat from the vents was keeping him on the verge of sleep. It was probably a good thing that he’d let Kylo drive.

“After this year, I’m quitting this job,” Hux said as Kylo tugged the keys out of the ignition.

Kylo yawned while managing to smile at the same time, his eyes crinkling up at the corners. “You’ve said that the last four years.”

Hux looked sharply at him, surprised. “I have?”

“Mmmhm.” Kylo opened the driver side door and pushed it open, letting in a waft of chilly, moisture-laden air. “But you can go ahead, now.”

“Go ahead and quit?” Hux asked, nose scrunching.

Halfway out of the truck, Kylo looked back at him, grinning. “Yeah. I finally have you, so I don’t have to worry if you leave.”

Hux barked a short laugh. “I see,” he mumbled, turning away to open his own door and hiding the pleased smile on his face. He slid out onto the pavement and left his coffee mug on the floorboard before closing the door and circling the truck to reconnect with Kylo.

“You realize that was all weird and a little stalkerish,” Hux told him.

Kylo seemed to have no trouble hearing the affection in those words. He wrapped his arm around Hux’s waist and Hux did the same to him.

“I’ve made my peace with that,” he said as they walked toward the door. “And it was worth the sacrifice of my honor.”

Hux laughed again, feeling a little warm and a lot mystified that anyone could want him _that_ much that they would suffer a Hot Topic for four years just for a chance with him. And it also seemed pretty significant that anyone could make him laugh before five A.M. in the morning.

“I need more coffee,” he told Kylo as they made their way inside. “Hopefully the Employee of the Year is on duty early at Starbucks.”

Kylo let them through the employee entrance and into the mall proper, which was buzzing with a kind of tension and frenetic activity that Hux thought would be at home in a warzone than a shopping mall.

“I hope so, too,” Kylo said. “I’m not sure the undead version of Hux will sell many clothes.”

Hux opened his mouth to object to being called a zombie, but then decided it was rather accurate. He was more shuffling than walking as Kylo towed him along to the second floor by the hand, and at this moment was absolutely more likely to bite someone’s face off than assist them in making a purchase.

Thankfully, Dopheld was indeed at his place behind the counter at Starbucks, and Hux breathed a sigh of relief. His prickliness at seeing Kylo’s (former) number one fan had gradually begun to wear off, thanks to the fact that Kylo acted just as aloof around Doph as before.

Dopheld was eyeing them over the counter as they approached, chewing on a cookie—Hux was sure that it was a cookie from the display shelf and not meant to be eaten at the register. Rebellious.

“Are you two ever more than five inches apart?” Doph asked on approach.

Hux huffed. “About eight inches is my personal favorite distance.”

Kylo snorted and squeezed his hand while Dopheld’s face went blank for a moment and then turned pink. He took an aggressive bite of his cookie, shoving the rest of it in his mouth and turning to the machines behind him. The espresso machine hissed, music to Hux’s ears.

“What time do you think you’ll let Cole off tonight?” Dopheld asked once he’d had time to swallow. It took Hux a second to realize he was talking about Thannison, whose first name Hux never used.

“No one leaves on Black Friday until the bodies are cleared,” Hux told him.

“Uhg,” Doph groaned, turning around and setting three cups on the counter. “Remind me why we work here?”

Kylo picked up one of the cups, blowing across the steaming coffee. “Hux says we can quit after this.”

Hux glanced at him. “Are you going to support me?”

“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “If all goes well I’ll be get drafted at the end of the year.” Pulling a twenty dollar bill out of his wallet and setting it on the counter, Kylo suddenly seemed to notice there were three cups instead of two. “Why do we need an extra one?”

“Drafted?” Hux asked, his voice a bit shrill. The thought of Kylo going off to war settled uncomfortably in the pit of his stomach. “This is 2018, not 1968.”

Kylo stared at him. “The NHL, Hux. Not Vietnam.”

Reality reasserted itself instantly, and Hux’s face colored in embarrassment. It really _was_ early. And this wasn’t the first time Kylo had talked about the NHL draft. “Right,” he mumbled, snatching up his coffee, and then grabbing the extra one. “I need more of this.”

“Hey,” Dopheld objected. “That one’s for Cole.”

Hux blinked at him. “I’m not a delivery boy.”

Doph opened his mouth to reply, but Kylo interrupted him, nudging Hux with his shoulder.

“That would make a fun role-play.”

“Oh my _God_ ,” Doph complained, waving both hands. “Both of you get out of here. Give Cole that coffee or I’m leaving the espresso out of yours next time I see you.”

Hux rolled his eyes, hiding his pink cheeks behind the cloud of steam rising from his cup. He was _not_ visualizing himself in a uniform showing up at Kylo’s door and being invited in to wait while Kylo ‘got his wallet’ only to find out that ‘whoops I’m out of money how else can I pay you for this pizza?’

They left a scandalized Dopheld behind and went back downstairs just as music began to pipe through the speakers overhead. Hux instantly felt weighted down by the interminable hours of work ahead of him. As they reached the space between their two stores, they paused and Hux looked at Kylo.

“I actually think working here was easier before we got together,” he said glumly.

Kylo’s brow furrowed and something both confused and hurt passed across his face.

“No,” Hux sighed, lifting his chin and giving Kylo a peck on his lips. “I just meant that now I have to sit in my store all day and miss you."

Kylo’s face cleared and he smiled, giving Hux another, slightly longer kiss. “I’m just across the hall,” he said quietly. “I’ll come visit.”

It made Hux think that for four years, Kylo’d always been _just across the hall_ , and he’d been too blind to notice. Well. It was better late than never, wasn't it?

 

 

The bad thing about Black Friday in a shopping mall (well, one of _innumerable_ bad things) was that there was _no_ time for a break. Being a retail employee was like being a crew member on a ship being tossed around at sea in an unrelenting storm, and all you could do was hang on to the ropes and try to keep the sails pointed in the right direction.

 

 **Hux (6:01 a.m.)** The outliers of the horde have begun to arrive

 

 **Kylo (6:06 a.m.)** this would be a really shitty place to be in the event of a true zombie apology

 

 **Kylo (6:06 a.m.)** apocalypse wtf

 

 **Hux (6:08 a.m.)** The undead are never sorry, Kylo.

 

 **Kylo (8:15 a.m.)** Do you think if the nightmare before Christmas had never been produced there would even be a hot topic?

 

 **Hux (8:45 a.m.)** Doubtful.

 

 **Kylo (12:05 p.m.)** hey you can get buy 1 get 1 half off on Bob Ross pins

 

 **Hux (12:17 p.m.)** Who is Bob Ross?

 

 **Kylo (1:00 p.m.)** …… I thought you were my soulmate, Hux :(

 

 **Hux (1:15 p.m.)** So your going to hook up with this Bob Ross guy instead?

 

 **Hux (1:15 p.m.)** *you’re

 

 **Kylo (1:17 p.m.)** …………

  


**Hux (5:18 p.m.)** omg i hate my life pl;z save me if one more person asks me ‘what kind of discount is $366’ i’m going to scream this is fucking Burberry not wal-mart

 

Hux’s fingers were actually trembling as he stabbed the keys on his phone. He’d reached peak levels of exasperation and had three-too-many cups of coffee (which Thannison had been only too happy to fetch). Hux was currently hiding behind a rack of winter coats in the back of the store, trying to peer across the hall to catch a glimpse of Kylo only to be interrupted by a customer...a _guest_ , as corporate insisted...sneaking up behind him and speaking almost in his ear.

“I thought the advertisement said the Check Link Loafer was on sale today,” the man said, brandishing a box with a pair of shoes printed in Burberry’s signature plaid.

Hux glared at the shoes, which the man waggled in front of him. He forced a smile onto his face. “They are discounted fifty percent, as you can clearly see on the tag.”

The man turned the shoes around and squinted at the tag. Hux abruptly plucked them out of his hands and stabbed a finger at the tag on the side of the box. “Do you see how this price that says $550 is crossed out with this big black line and underneath is written $275? If you multiply $550 by…”

A hand on his upper arm startled Hux so badly he almost dropped the box.

“Excuse me,” Kylo said. “I could use some help.” Then he looked at the customer standing beside Hux like he’d only just noticed him. “Oh! Sorry to interrupt. Were you planning on getting these? You should. Shoes like this make a man look expensive.” He plucked the shoes out of Hux’s hand and pressed them into the customer’s.

Hux had to turn away and fake a sneeze to keep from bursting into laughter. Then he had to fake a coughing fit so he didn’t have to turn around again before the customer walked away.

“Coast is clear,” Kylo said a few seconds later, and Hux glanced around to see the man approaching the counter with the box of shoes, looking pleased with himself.

Hux gaped. “I should hire you.”

“No way. But you can help me pick out a shirt,” Kylo said, grinning as he spun around, looking at the far wall.

“Kylo,” Hux began, “the shirts here are…”

“Out of my price range,” Kylo finished, backing toward the dressing rooms. “But it’ll be fun for you to help me try some on.” The smile he gave Hux was more of a leer, and his insinuation finally dawned on Hux.

“I’ll um. See what I can find. Sir,” he said.

To his credit, Hux actually did spend a few minutes selecting an array of shirts in colors and styles he thought would look good on Kylo, just to see him dressed up and to make him wait in anticipation. When he finally tapped on the dressing room door, looking behind him to make sure no one was watching, it clicked open immediately and Hux slipped inside.

Hux had expected to be greeted with a hard kiss and arms around his waist, but instead, Kylo had retreated to the far side of the little stall and was leaning against the wall, arms folded. He had a mischievous smile on his face, and he nodded toward the shirts draped over Hux’s arm.

“Let’s see,” he told Hux.

It took this turn of events a moment to sink in, but then Hux cleared his throat and adopted the role. “Well, sir,” he began, hanging the shirts on the hook on one side of the stall. “I thought we’d try the traditional plaid print, which will really bring out those pretty shades of amber in your eyes. And then we have a black and red plaid that will look superb with that lustrous, dark hair and pale skin.”

He’d taken the first shirt off the hangar and was holding it out to Kylo when he noticed that Kylo’s cheeks had turned just the barest shade of pink. Hux didn’t even piece together it was because of the compliment he’d just paid him until Kylo had looked down shyly to focus on peeling his t-shirt off. Did no one ever praise this boy?

Hux watched appreciatively as Kylo lifted his arms over his head, torso muscles flexing as he tugged his shirt off slowly, a few inches at a time. Hux was biting his lip against a grin by the time Kylo’s eyes reappeared beneath his now ruffled dark hair.

The t-shirt dropped to the floor but Kylo did not otherwise move, like he was waiting for something. There was a ghost of a smile on his lips and a glint in his eyes.

“Turn around,” Hux said, suddenly inspired.

Kylo’s smile broadened and he did as Hux asked, facing the opposite wall. Hux took a few steps toward him and reached up to run his hand over the expanse of Kylo’s broad shoulders.

“Hmmm,” he said. “I think this will be just on the edge of fitting. The clientele we often serve is not quite so...powerfully built.”

Kylo shivered as Hux stroked his knuckles down the curve of his spine. It wasn’t quite on par with their little spontaneous role-play, but Hux couldn’t help himself as he leaned in to leave a kiss on Kylo’s shoulder. Then he slid his hand from that shoulder down Kylo’s arm and to his wrist so he could guide Kylo’s arm back and slip it into the sleeve of the shirt.

“Other arm,” he told Kylo, who dutifully complied. Hux drew the shirt up the rest of the way and settled it over Kylo’s shoulders. “Now turn around again.”

Kylo did, and despite the fact that this had begun in jest, there was an unmistakable look in Kylo’s eyes that spoke of a desire for approval as Hux pinched the lapels of the shirt together to get a clear picture of its fit.

“Hmm,” Hux said, looking from Kylo’s eyes to the shirt and back. “It does look good.” It really did.

Kylo smiled and held up his arm, looking at the tag that dangled from a woven string on the cuff. “Only $290. What a fucking steal.”

Hux laughed, letting go of the shirt and swaying close to Kylo, bumping his head beneath Kylo’s chin and circling his waist with his arms. Kylo’s chest was bare with the shirt unbuttoned, and he was furnace-warm.

“I wouldn’t let you buy this crap,” he mumbled.

Kylo’s arms were around him now, holding him tight. “I thought you believed in this place.”

“No. I just work here.” He drew away from Kylo just enough to get his fingers on Kylo’s belt buckle. He’d just started to tug it free of the buckle when Kylo flinched back.

“What are you doing?” he said in an alarmed stage-whisper, at odds with the amused look on his face.

“Giving my boyfriend a blow job as gratitude for helping me hang on to the last shreds of my sanity,” Hux answered, pulling the belt the rest of the way free of the loop.

“I thought I came over here to comfort _you_ ,” Kylo said with a breathy little laugh. Hux had the sudden feeling that despite Kylo’s often lewd flirtations, this wasn’t the kind of thing he did.

“Have you never had sex in public?” Hux asked, unzipping Kylo’s jeans and finding him already half hard.

“No,” Kylo whispered, jumping again when Hux drew his cock out and sank to his knees. He slid his hand into Hux’s hair. “I came over here to keep you from losing your job. Not get you fired for sucking my dick in the dressing room.”

Hux took Kylo’s tip in his mouth, suckling it for a few seconds and feeling Kylo shake before leaning back and looking up at him with a smirk.

“I’ll just have to delete the security recording after I make a copy of it, won’t I?’

Before the look of shock on Kylo’s face could be translated into an objection, Hux swallowed him all the way to the root.

 

 

It was 2:15 a.m. by the time they managed to escape work, and Hux was so exhausted he could barely stand up straight. Kylo kept an arm around him as they slogged up the staircase to Hux’s apartment, and it was a good thing, or Hux might have fallen asleep mid-movement and gone tumbling to his death.

When they reached the landing, Hux found Kylo’s hand and twined their fingers together. “I need an hour long shower and then ten years of sleep,” he said. “Although maybe not in that order.”

Kylo squeezed his hand, but didn’t say anything. In fact, he’d been unusually quiet since they left the mall, and Hux was starting to think that he’d freaked Kylo out a little with the public sex thing. The thought made him feel a little queasy and anxious, afraid he’d shown Kylo too much of the wild side of his party days—the one he’d wanted to keep concealed instead of go with Kylo to a Halloween party where people might have remembered that Hux.

His pace dragged and slowed Kylo down, who glanced at him and smiled. “We’re almost there,” he said, fumbling keys out of his pocket with his free hand. They were Hux’s keys, which Hux had given him earlier so he could run back to his place and feed Millicent. Hot Topic, it seemed, could give their employees a decent break while Burberry was a militaristic, soulless regime.

Hux leaned against Kylo while he unlocked the door, then shuffled past him into the dark apartment while Kylo propped the door open. It closed behind them just as Millicent bumped against his leg and chirped.

Hux stooped down to pick her up, pressing the cat to his chest and dipping his head so she could butt his nose with hers. “Hello, darling,” he said.

She was vibrating with purrs as Hux carried her to the kitchen, yawning. He heard Kylo put his keys in the bowl by the door, and it took Hux opening a cabinet to search for a glass to realize that they hadn’t turned on the lights.

“Babe?” Hux asked. “Will you get the lights?”

Kylo didn’t answer, walking past him toward the living room and leaning around the corner into the hallway. Hux opened his mouth to ask what he was doing when the apartment was suddenly filled with glittering, multicolored lights. They reflected off the walls in reds and blues and golds and Hux was so startled by it that he alarmed Millie, who jumped out of his arms onto the floor.

Hux turned fully around, facing the living room. The source of the light was in the corner.

A Christmas tree.

He just stared at it, feeling his eyes burn. _Why the hell did that make him want to cry?_

“I hope you aren’t mad,” Kylo murmured, having crossed back into the kitchen. He was standing a few feet away with his hands in his pockets, eyes round and anxious.

So _this_ was what had him on edge the whole way home.

 _Home_ . They’d been together a month and Hux was already thinking of this place as _theirs_ now.

“How did you have time for all this?” he managed to ask Kylo.

Kylo still looked anxious, rocking back and forward on the soles of his feet. “I sent Rey to get the tree. I picked it up from her and brought it here. There aren’t any decorations yet...just lights. Thought maybe you’d want to pick your own out…”

Hux looked at him, rubbing his nose with the back of his hand to stop the tingly, burning feeling that was making his eyes water. His mouth hung open while he tried to think of something to say, but he just kept remembering Brendol telling him Christmas trees were a waste of electricity and that holidays were just an excuse to sell more junk. There’d never been trick-or-treating or Santa Clause or any of that when he was growing up, and Hux hated holidays because seeing kids enjoying them made him think of his father and all his lectures about how it was time to grow up.

Hux suddenly lurched into motion, taking the few steps toward Kylo and grabbing his face with both hands. Kylo flinched in surprise, but then melted against him with a soft sound when Hux pressed their lips together. Hux felt his arms circle his waist and Kylo pulled him close.

“How did you do this?” Hux asked hoarsely, pulling back and looking into Kylo’s eyes.

Kylo’s brow furrowed and he glanced across the room at the tree, then back. “I told you...Rey got the tree and…”

“No,” Hux said, pecking him on the lips again. “How’d you make me fall in love with you in less than four weeks?”

He both felt and heard the air leave Kylo’s lungs, and for a few seconds Hux thought maybe he’d let his exhausted mouth run away with him, and that Kylo was going to give him some sort of speech about taking things slowly, but then Kylo’s mouth was on his again. Somewhere in the breathless kiss that followed, Kylo said something, but Hux’s head was ringing and he couldn’t make out the words.

“What did you...say?” he asked against Kylo’s lips, the question broken by another gentle kiss.

“I said I’ve loved you for years, so I needed you to catch up fast.”

Hux just looked at him, incredulous. How had he really missed all this when it was right under his nose? “I’m an asshole,” he muttered.

Kylo smiled. “Yeah. But that’s part of your charm.”

“How am I going to make all that time up?”

This turned Kylo’s smile into something slightly less innocent and Hux felt his fingers tugging at his shirt, untucking it, then he felt the button of his slacks slip free.

“I can think of a lot of ways,” Kylo purred, backing toward the bedroom and pulling Hux along by his shirt.

Hux followed willingly, shrugging out of his coat and leaving it puddled on the kitchen floor. The lights of the Christmas tree twinkled behind him, flickering off the hallway walls, and Hux thought that maybe he could stop thinking about the past and start thinking about the future instead. 

 


End file.
